Cricket Ball | Leather | White | Test Grade

Product information

India is a hub where all types of sports goods are manufactured. There are certain districts and states that particularly produce sports goods in the factories. We are also one of the brands that manufacture sports goods. We basically specialise in the production of Cricket Balls. We manufacture Cricket Balls for Test Cricket, One Day Cricket, 20-20 Cricket,50-50 Cricket, International cricket tournament, Ranji Cricket, practice matches, etc. The types of cricket balls are dependent on a variety of factors like colours of balls, quality of balls, balls for different matches, etc. On the very basis of colours the cricket balls are manufactured in two colours which are:

1) Red Balls- The balls that are red incolour for playing cricket, are tanned in red colour while they are manufactured. The manufacturing process’ very first step includes the dyeing of the leather for making a red ball. Red ball is widely used around the world for playing cricket like in tournaments, 20-20 cricket matches and also for leisure playing as is continued with a Red Ball.

2) White Balls- The balls that are white in colour needn’t to be dyed for the leather that is brought to manufacture them is already white in colour. Some of the balls are dyed with white colour as well. The balls that are not dyed in white colour are a bit pale in appearanceas the white colour very soon turns to pale yellow. The balls that are preferred for playing are the balls that aren’t dyed white. It is because the balls with a weary appearance encourages a good gripping by the players. Hence,a professional player would choose a ball that isn’t polished over a polishe done.

These were the two categories on the basis of colours of the cricket ball. Now, we will come to the other category of the quality of the balls. Although same balls are used for all sorts of matches but they differ from each other in quality aspect. The quality of the balls depends upon the quality of the leather used. And on the basis of the leather, the quality of the balls can be divided into three categories which are as follows:

1) High Quality cricket balls- High Quality cricket balls are produced with the similar leather as the other balls. The quality of the leather decreases with the thickness of the leather. In other words, as the thickness of the leather decreases, the quality and durability of the ball also decreases. So, the balls with a higher quality are the ones that are manufactured with the highest quality thick leather sheet. And only the high quality balls are produced in our factories for sale so that our customer sencounter no such quality issues with the ball after purchasing it. The balls are available in both the colours i.e. red and white.

2) Medium Quality cricket balls- The medium quality cricket balls are produced with the leather that is not thick enough to endure the wear and tear. Its thickness depends upon the leather sheet that isused to produce them. Although the balls are not that ineffective to play but are generally not preferred for big reputed matches. The balls are available in both the colours i.e. red and white.

3) Low Quality cricket balls- The low quality cricket balls are produced with the leather that is very low and not at all thick enough to hold. These balls are basically used by the local people for playing cricket as a game for enjoyment and leisure. These people do notuse the ball at a stretch like the National and International matches that are played using the High quality balls.

These are the types of balls on the basis of the quality of the leather. The quality of the ball depends upon the thickness of the leather. Although leather is a significant part that determines the quality of the balls but cork also plays another essential role for deeming a good quality ball. More thick and hard the cork more will be the durability and quality of the ball.

Besides determination of the types of balls on the basis of colours and quality, we divide the types of the balls on the basis of the production of the ball. The production of the ball is dependent on the pieces of leather used to make a ball. They can be divided into two categories:

1) Two-piece leather ball- a two piece leather ball is manufactured by using just the two pieces of leather that are wrapped around the ball. The ball doesn’t last for long. It is not at all preferred by the professional players or for that matter not even by the local people who purchase cricket balls for leisure and enjoyment purposes. The reason behind its non-prefer ability is the early wear and tear of the ball, opening of the stiches, tearing of the leather,deformity, etc. It can probably be used by the children who are fond of cricket balls or play cricket at home or with friends.

2) Four-piece leather ball- a four-piece leather ball is produced with the four pieces of leather that are wrapped around the ball. The balls with four-piece leather are the ones that we manufacture. The possible reason for our manufacturing a four-piece leather ball is because it is the largest selling ball and it is the foremost preference of all the professional cricket players. The professional cricket players cannot manage the whole game with a two-piece leather ball. Afour-piece high quality leather ball is resistant to all the wear and tear that is undergoes and can be used throughout the match. The four pieces of leather are joined by the thread and are strengthened enough for the challenges that come in its way.

These are the categories of ball son the basis of their production process.

Let us now come to the production of cricket balls, i.e. how the balls are manufactured. The manufacturing of the cricket balls in our factories happen through a manual process. The process of manufacturing cricket balls in India is labour intensive and doesn’t require any machinery for the same. The labour intensive handmade production of the cricket balls is the aspect that makes our brand more unique. The products which are handmade are always made with whole dedication and effort which appears on the ball and hence stand out from any other manufacturing company.Handmade manufacturing is the evidence that India is a country that specialises in handicrafts and these cricket balls are one of a kind.

The raw materials that are required to make the cricket balls are as follows:

1) Cork-Cork is one of the impermeable buoyant material, i.e. a prime subset of the bark tissue that consists of dead cells. Cork is brought from the factories that are located in the nearby areas. The cork basically forms the base of the ball over which the leather is sewn. The cork can be tough, hard, light, soft,etc. These properties of the cork determine the strong foundation of a ball and also its durability.

2) Leather-Leather is a material that is formed from the animal skin. The animals that are used to obtain the leather are buffalo, snakes, rabbits, etc. The reason behind using animal skin or leather to make products is that the leather products are highly durable, have a very finished appearance and have a very good texture.The leather is brought from the nearby located factories that manufacture leather. The colour of the real leather is basically the colour of the skin which is then died into different colours (if required) for its transformation into a commercial product.

3) Thread-The thread that is used of stitching the leather wrapped over the ball is acotton thread. The cotton thread comes up in different varieties. It can be singularly rolled and formed into a thread which won’t have a good tensile strength. Whereas the singular yarns are also integrated to form good strength with 100% tensile strength. The threads with 100% tensile strength are used for stitching the leather wrapped onto the cricket ball. The reason why thin plastic rolls are not used for stitching the leather wrapped on the ball instead of a cotton thread is that the plastic thread breaks earlier and is not at all stout enough to bear the wear and tear with the balls. The other reason for not using a plastic thread is that the cotton threads wear out with the wear out time of the ball but a plastic thread doesn’t serve the purpose.

These are the raw materials required for the production of cricket balls. And the process is stated below:

Step 1- The cork, leather and thread are brought from the near by located factories in bulk quantities so as to manufacture the balls in good quantity.

Step 2- After the delivery of the cricket balls to our factory, our technicians start to work effortlessly for the production of the cricket balls. Each technician is assigned one or the other department for the continuation of the production process.

Step 3- Leather sheets that are brought are allowed to dip into the water for some time. Afterwards when they are taken out from the water, they are again dipped into another bucket containing the dyes in which the leather is tanned with a colour which is either red or white. When the colour on the leather appears intact and accurate, then the leather sheets are taken out. The wet leather sheets are allowed to dry. The drying of the leather sheets is brought to a halt when the sheet is not entirely dried. Drying a leather sheet entirely would lead to stiffness which resists stitching with a thread after enclosing the ball in the leather casing.

Step 4- After drying the leather sheets (not entirely) the cork for establishing the base of the ball is brought into shape by carving it into a spherical shape. For a high quality ball that is manufactured in our industry, the most strengthened cork is used for gripping, catching, etc. For alow and medium quality ball the cork which doesn’t hold much strength or is a little less strengthening.

Step 5- Since, the process of the cork has now been executed, then a thin leather sheet is cut to cover the shape of a cork ball.It is then wrapped around the cork so as to smoothen and cover the cork beneath the thin leather sheet.

Step 6- Now, for a four-piece leather ball, a four piece leather casing is made with the dyed leather. The leather casing is then adjusted around the ball and then the stitching process is carried out. The stitching is also done manually and it stitches the ball and seals the gaps in between the leather casing very minutely and neatly. Now the leather case is covered with a slightly raised sewn seam that goes throughout the diameter of the ball.

Step 7- After the ball is ready, we have small curved iron stamps that are of the size of the part of the curved surface of the ball. The stamps are carved with the brand design i.e. “Ikshvaku”. It is then stamped over the red ball with a golden colour and stamped over the white ball with ared colour. It stamps the name of the brand and also the match type that the ball will be used for.

Step 8- After completion of the stamping process, the ball sare polished so as to develop a shine on them which acts as a protective shield and final touch for the stamp and the ball respectively. The polishes that we use for our high quality and medium quality balls is wax polish. This polish ensures the protection of the ball. The other polish used for polishing the low quality balls makes it shinier than the wax polished ones. Hence, the other low quality balls are slippery enough which resists the bowler to use them as they cannot maintain a good grip in the hands of the bowler. That is the reason that the balls with wax polish are used for professional competitive matches by the bowlers for they maintain proper grip in the hands of the bowler.

These are the above eight steps that makes the balls eligible for the commercial process and ensure full customer satisfaction. This is a kind of product that is manufactured manuallyin our factories.